Bits and Pieces
by shellebelle
Summary: Selected stories of Molly and Arthur's early married life
1. Setting up Housekeeping

Disclaimer: I wish I came up with this stuff, but I didn't. It all belongs to the Divine Miss R.  
  
Thanks go to my wonderfully patient beta, Elanor Gamgee.third time's the charm! You ROX!  
  
Bits and Pieces  
Bit One: Setting up Housekeeping  
  
"Hullo, I'm home," Arthur called, and went into the kitchen. He frowned when he saw his mother at the stove. "Hullo, Mum, I thought Molly was going to cook tonight?"  
  
"Oh, she looked a little confused by my stove, dear, so I shooed her away. I don't know why she seems so nervous around me, honestly."  
  
Arthur sighed silently. I'm sure that went over just splendidly with Molly, he thought in dismay. "I'll just go and see Molly now, Mum."  
  
"Yes.you do that, dear." his mother said distractedly, waving him off.  
  
Arthur trudged up the stairs to his old room that he now occupied with his new wife, Molly. She and his mother had always gotten along, but now, with them living so close together, disagreements arose on a daily basis. He opened the bedroom door.  
  
Molly was sitting on the bed facing away from the door, and her head was bowed and her shoulders were slumped unhappily. He could just see her face in the mirror, and she was crying silently. Arthur came over to sit beside her and put his arm around her shoulders.  
  
"It isn't my fault that I can't get the hang of her stove," she said in frustration. "She doesn't let me get anywhere near it! Why does she dislike me so much?"  
  
"Oh, Moll, she doesn't dislike you.there's just never been another woman in this house. She isn't used to it." Arthur sighed.  
  
"Oh, Arthur, it's been such a dreadful, awful day."  
  
"Tell me about it."  
  
"They let me go at the Enchantments Lab." Molly's face screwed up again.  
  
"Why did they do that?"  
  
"Because of the one good thing that happened today," she sniffled. "I'm.I'm pregnant." She bit her lip and looked up at Arthur.  
  
A big grin had crossed his face. "Oh, Molly, that's brilliant!" He hugged her, falling down with her on the bed and kissing her happily.  
  
She snorted through her tears. "I somehow doubt our 'brilliance' had much to do with it, Arthur Weasley." She sighed. "At any rate, my job would be hazardous to the baby, so when I told them, they thought it would be best for me to leave the lab." She pushed his thinning red hair out of his eyes affectionately, but she was very unhappy.  
  
Arthur nodded. She's upset. The loss of her income is going to set us back in finding a place of our own.  
  
Molly closed her eyes again. "I just want somewhere to call our own, Arthur. Just a bit of a burrow somewhere, someplace cozy."  
  
He knew she was dreaming of it, envisioning it in her mind, and once again, he felt guilty for not having taken that job Malfoy had offered him, no matter how slighting he might have been about it.  
  
"I could always change jobs, Molly."  
  
She sat up abruptly. "No! Not with that horrible man. You keep to your principles, Arthur, and don't mind me. I will be happy anywhere with you, you know that!" Molly was all practicality now, and she dried the tears from her cheeks impatiently. "I'll just go and see if there is anything I can do to help your mother."  
  
Arthur stood and caught her in his arms. "You're wonderful, Molly, do you know that?"  
  
She rolled her eyes. "Tell me something I don't know, Arthur Weasley." Molly smiled at him and left the room.  
  
Arthur sat back down with a heavy sigh. Two strong-willed women in one house, he thought. I don't think the house will survive. They had been married only four months, and the strain of living with his parents was starting to tell on Molly. She had always been very independent, and she was trying very hard to get along with his mother, who was much the same way.  
  
He smiled when he thought of Molly. She had grown up on a wizarding farm, and he thought his house must look very strange to her. Not that his family was in any way well-off, but his mother was not the old-fashioned type. Molly learned to cook on a hearth, for goodness' sake! He had set his heart on her from the first moment he saw her, on the boat going across to Hogwarts their first year. He had thought she had a nice face, and a little later as they chatted while going across the lake, he had liked her no-nonsense manner and strong personality.  
  
This arrangement is not working out, he thought unhappily. Molly is unhappy. I don't like that. He sighed. There has to be a way for us to have a place of our own.  
  
Dinner that night was a bit tense, though his mother and Molly seemed to have made up. His father, who worked in the Magical Law Office, said quietly, "Matters are getting worse, Esmeralda. There's a lot more Dark activity than we like to see going on."  
  
Esmeralda Weasley had been a rather formidable wizarding lawyer in her day, and she frowned. "Do you know who is behind it?"  
  
"That's the problem. It just seems to be everywhere--all over Britain. Even the Learned Brotherhood on the isle of Iona is feeling tremors. That's what it is being called: 'tremors.'"  
  
Molly looked over at Arthur, her brown eyes wide with apprehension. He could only give her a watery smile in return. He, too, had heard these things, and they worried him deeply. He had heard his grandparents talk about the fight with Grindelwald, and Arthur had no desire to go through any of the things they spoke of. He shuddered inwardly.  
  
Later that night, Arthur stroked Molly's hair as she asked, "Oh, Arthur, could it be happening again? The Dark Times?" He felt her body shudder. "My mum still has nightmares about the night they took her parents." Molly's grandparents on her mother's side had been Muggle farmers, and Grindelwald's men had taken them, torturing them in front of her mother and killing them before her very eyes. They had left Molly's mother, just home from her first year in Hogwarts, in the wreckage of their farmhouse. She didn't speak for nearly six months afterward, and the nightmares lasted for the rest of her life.  
  
He held her a little tighter. "I don't know, Moll. I hope not." Unconsciously, his hands drifted downward to rest protectively on her belly, where their unborn child grew.  
  
"At least the little one doesn't have to understand about this for a long time," Molly sighed.  
  
Arthur kissed her cheek. "Try to sleep, Molly. You need your rest. And I get to sleep in with you. I am so glad it's Friday."  
  
"Mmmm," she sighed in contentment, and snuggled against him. Arthur lay awake for quite some time, thinking about their more immediate need: a home of their own. Molly would put a brave face on it, but it was very clear she needed to have a place where she would have the say in how things were run. 'Just a little burrow, a little place where we can be cozy.'  
  
I'll find it, Molly Anne Weasley. I'll find a burrow for you, I promise.  
  
"Oh, great Merlin."  
  
Arthur opened his eyes in early morning as Molly rushed out of bed to the lavatory. Well, I suppose the secret will be out now, Arthur thought, as he went to see if Molly was all right. When her morning sickness had passed, he brought her back to bed and held her until she went back to sleep. Only then did Arthur shut his eyes again.  
  
On Saturday afternoon, Arthur went out to the broomshed and took out his key. He opened the compartment that held his pride and joy: the Starchaser One, one of the first professional class brooms, hand made in 1876, serial number 003. He had found it in Grandfather Weasley's vast attic, and begged it for his own, after which he had spent three summers lovingly restoring it, making sure everything that went on it or in it was in period, and restoring the worn-out flight charms and the primitive Cushioning Charm. It went from ground to 1000 feet in about one minute, far behind more modern brooms, but a landmark in its day. It had been his summer project for three years, wasting time researching its provenance that his father said could better be used elsewhere. Molly had never quite understood his obsession with the restoration of the broom, but had quite happily sat there while he jabbered on about it and watched him work on it. He replaced it in the case, and took it out of the broomshed.  
  
There are other brooms in the world, but there is only one Molly, he said to himself. And she matters more than anything else in the world.  
  
Two weeks later, Molly was lying in bed after a particularly bad bout of morning sickness. Mrs. Weasley kept trying to pour more tea down her throat (Take this dear, it's got soothing herbs in it and it will settle your stomach.), and didn't seem to realize that it only made things worse. Everything ached as her body changed to accommodate the coming child. To her shock, she was already starting to gain weight at only two months along. I wonder if Arthur has noticed. If he has, he hasn't said anything...  
  
Someone was coming up the stairs, two at a time, and then the bedroom door burst open. "Molly! You need to come with me!"  
  
She looked at him as if he'd gone quite mad. "Are you mad? I've been ill for the past hour! I'm not going anywhere!"  
  
Arthur sat on the bed, not daunted at all by her lack of enthusiasm. "I'm sorry. Are you feeling very poorly?"  
  
"Just weary, Arthur. Just tired and weary. What is so important?"  
  
"What is the one thing you want more than anything else in the world right now?"  
  
"To stop feeling ill," she moaned.  
  
Arthur looked at her reproachfully. "Now, Molly."  
  
She sighed and smiled at him. "Sorry, Arthur." She thought a moment, then looked up at him, her eyes widening. "Did you find a place for us, Arthur?"  
  
He grinned. "I found a burrow for you, Molly."  
  
Molly's face lit up like a Christmas tree and she sat up slowly. "Let me get dressed."  
  
Arthur was a bit nervous, and he covered Molly's eyes as he guided her to a good place to see the house that he had signed the papers for that morning. He uncovered her eyes, and she looked around, her mouth falling open slightly.  
  
"It's not perfect," he acknowledged quickly. "It's going to need work, and I know that bit over there doesn't exactly look stable, but the Support Charms are strong on it, and-!"  
  
Molly had seized his face in her hands and planted a rather passionate kiss on his lips. When she finally released him, he asked in a daze, "I take it you like the house."  
  
"Is it really ours, Arthur?"  
  
He nodded. He rather wanted her to kiss him again, but he figured there would be time enough later. "I signed the papers this morning. Do you want to see the inside?"  
  
She nodded and he took her hand and led her inside, but once she was inside, Molly took the lead. Arthur followed her as she explored the house with a happy expression on her face. She managed to go up all the stairs, albeit slowly, and once she was in the very top bedroom, she turned to him and said, "I love it, Arthur. When can we move in?"  
  
"When you like. Do you really like it?"  
  
Molly sighed. "It's the best house I've ever been in. It's our home, Arthur. We're finally home." She put her arms around him, and he held her for a long time.  
  
They had put the call out to both of their large extended families for furnishings and Molly had asked her mother for a pair of chickens to begin their roost. Their families were very generous, sending them a hodge-podge of furniture and things, some in good condition, others needing a bit of fixing, but Molly had an entire house to furnish, not to mention a nursery, and she let nothing go to waste.  
  
Mrs. Dixon had come, with the chickens and two pigs. "I just wanted to get rid of a couple of our hogs.it's more than we could possibly use in a year, dearie, and with the two of you just starting out.I'm sure you could use it." Molly's mother looked around the house, and saying, "What a charming place.I'm sure you can do a lot with this. But for heaven's sake, don't overexert yourself! What does your mediwizard say?"  
  
"I'm in excellent health, Mum. Everything is fine. I didn't quite expect my face to fill out quite so fast though.I'm only two months along."  
  
"And I love every bit of her," interrupted Arthur, coming into the kitchen. Molly blushed. "I've made the house sign, Moll. Want to see it?"  
  
She nodded, and he gave her a neatly painted whitewashed sign that said, "The Burrow."  
  
Molly smiled. "That's perfect, Arthur. It just fits, doesn't it?"  
  
Arthur just grinned and turned to Molly's mother. "So, what do you think of the house, Mum?"  
  
"It's just the place for my daughter. It looks like the Den did when Molly's father and I first moved in." Mrs. Dixon sighed happily. "If you two are half as happy as Mr. Dixon and I were, than you should be very happy indeed."  
  
It was a day in early October when they finally moved into the Burrow. Esmeralda had made a lot of food for them to take with them; saying, "Trust me, after all the moving in, the last thing you will want to do is cook, love."  
  
Molly had hugged her and thanked her gratefully for allowing them to stay in their house. "I know we haven't always gotten along."  
  
"Oh, hush, dear, I know what it's like. Don't mention another thing about it."  
  
Now, Arthur obeyed his wife as he moved the (magically miniaturized) furniture where Molly wanted it. She was very particular about it, and he wouldn't dream of not having things exactly as she wanted them.  
  
"Ummm.over there a bit. Fine. Arthur, I think we've moved in at last."  
  
With a wave of his wand, Arthur restored the pieces of furniture to their original sizes. Molly looked around happily. "It's wonderful, Arthur. But where's the Starchaser? I didn't see it when we moved in."  
  
Arthur blushed and shrugged a bit. "I sold it," he said casually.  
  
"But.but you loved that broom! I remember you working on it every summer for three years. Why ever did you." She looked at him, her eyes wide.  
  
"I didn't love that broom, Molly. I love you. Now, it's getting late. Are you going to argue with me about this?"  
  
Molly's eyes were shining, but she said, "No."  
  
He smiled at her. "Good. Dinner and bed, then?"  
  
"That sounds wonderful."  
  
Later, they lay awake for quite some time, listening to their house settle, all the creaks and the moaning of the ghoul in the attic.  
  
"I don't think I'm going to sleep tonight," Molly sighed happily.  
  
Arthur leaned over her with a wicked glint in his eye. "Well, there are other things we could do besides sleep," he said, grinning.  
  
Molly rolled her eyes, but she was blushing. "Oh, you rascal."  
  
"You love me because I'm a rascal."  
  
She put her arms around him. "That damned Weasley charm. I wonder if our son will have it."  
  
"You don't know that it will be a boy yet."  
  
"It has to be. 'Weasley' is almost synonymous with 'boy', with all the Weasley boys that have gone through Hogwarts. Though I hope I get a girl in there somewhere."  
  
"Well.maybe we'll just keep trying till we've got one, then," he said, wiggling his eyebrows at her.  
  
"Oh, you," she said affectionately, and pulled him down to kiss him.  
  
A/N: There's going to be more bits to this, I can't call them chapters really, because there really isn't a story-it's more like what Molly and Arthur remember when they look back over their marriage, random memories. I just love Molly and Arthur-aren't they great? 


	2. Home for the Holidays

Disclaimer: I'm just playing in Ms. Rowling's world. I make no money from this.  
  
Many thanks go to my beta-reader, Elanor Gamgee, who completely ROX! Also, many thanks go to all the wonderful people who read my stories and like them! Thanks for all the encouragement!  
  
Bits and Pieces  
Bit Two: Home for the Holidays  
  
Oh there's no place like home  
  
For the holidays, 'cause no matter  
  
How far away you roam  
  
If you want  
  
To be happy in a million ways  
  
For the holidays, you can't beat  
  
Home, sweet home.  
  
--Al Stillman and Robert Allen  
"Home for the Holidays"  
  
Arthur liked to Apparate just down the road from his house to see all the lights on inside, welcoming him home. Now that it was Christmas Eve, it was especially nice to see the lights on the Christmas tree in the front room window. He was glad every day that he had been able to move them into this house, and especially glad that they were able to spend their first Christmas as husband and wife in it. The Dixons were coming tomorrow, and his family would have come too, but his oldest brother had just had a child and his family wanted to visit with them this Christmas.  
  
He opened the door to the warmth of their kitchen. "I'm home, Molly," he announced. She came out of the pantry to hug him. Molly was four months pregnant and beginning to show, though she insisted she'd been getting filled out since her second month.  
  
"I'm so glad you're home, and off for the holiday. I did a lot more baking today." here she kissed him, "and I'm not sure I've made enough, what with all my family coming tomorrow."  
  
Arthur looked around the kitchen. "You are joking, aren't you? Our table looks like it's going to collapse!" It was true; Molly's excellent cooking and baking had taken up just about every spare bit of flat surface in the kitchen and even part of the living room. He dusted flour off her nose playfully. "Everyone is going to have an excellent meal, even if we don't have room to seat them all, and everything is going to be wonderful. Now, let me help you with something, love, you've been working your fingers to the bone with all this."  
  
She sighed and made a great show of reluctance as she said, "Well, since you asked." and she set him to work.  
  
It was late that night before Molly decided that the preparations were enough, and the next morning, she was still up at dawn. Arthur, coming down a couple of hours later, said reproachfully, "You should have woken me. I would have helped."  
  
"Think of it as an early Christmas present, dear. You'll be up tonight helping me clean up. The families will be here any minute, and there's still the stoop to be swept of mud and snow."  
  
"Molly."  
  
".the eggs to be gathered."  
  
"Molly."  
  
".the cow to be milked, she doesn't care that it's Christmas."  
  
"Molly!" Arthur grabbed her shoulders gently and stopped her. "I can do that stuff.didn't you teach me to milk a cow yourself?"  
  
Molly smiled ruefully. "Yes, I did. I'm sorry. I'm just used to doing all of those things."  
  
"Well, I'm home and I can help, so let me. All right?"  
  
After Arthur had done those chores for Molly, he went upstairs and changed his clothes, then went back to see about getting Molly to go upstairs and change her dress, for he knew she would fuss about preparations until the very last minute if he didn't remind her.  
  
"Molly, everything looks great. Why don't you go upstairs and clean up? I'll greet the first guests if you are not ready when they come."  
  
"All right, Arthur. Thank you." Molly made her way upstairs and Arthur went out to the front room.  
  
The Christmas tree really did look wonderful. Molly had enchanted the popcorn strings to change colors, from red to blue to green to purple, and they both had a bit of fun creating non-edible cookies to hang on the tree. Arthur's mother had given them magical lights to light up the tree, and they glowed, white and soft, catching the glittery colored sugar on the ornaments.  
  
Molly was coming downstairs. She was wearing a green and blue tartan skirt, and a white blouse. Her outer robe was Kelly green.  
  
"You look lovely," he said, giving her a hug.  
  
"Do I really look all right? I feel a bit like an overstuffed turkey."  
  
Arthur laughed at her analogy. "You look beautiful," he insisted, kissing her.  
  
As the guests began to arrive, the house almost seemed to expand to hold them all. This is a very hospitable house, Arthur thought fondly.  
  
"Aye, so this is our Molly-girl's new home, is it?" Cian Dixon, Molly's uncle, said jovially. He looked rather distinguished, with his white hair and straight bearing, but one look into his eyes told you that he was merely having fun. "A fine house it is! And how is the lord of the manor this fine evening?" He made an exaggerated bow to Arthur.  
  
Arthur laughed. "Well, the lord of the manor has found that if the lady of the manor is pleased, life is a happy prospect, indeed!"  
  
Molly punched Arthur lightly in the arm and shook her head affectionately. "You men," she said, and took her uncle's coat. "Will you play today, Uncle?"  
  
"Would it be Christmas if I didn't, lass?"  
  
Elisabeth and Aiden Dixon, Molly's mother and father, came then, bringing Molly's five younger sisters, thirteen-year-old Martha, the eleven-year-old twins, Charity and Constance, eight-year-old Anne, and tiny Betsy, who was only two. "Molly! You got married!" Betsy exclaimed in delight. She looked as if she had wanted to tell Molly that all day. Molly scooped the girl up.  
  
"Yes, I did, Betsy. You know Arthur.he's your brother in law now."  
  
Betsy smiled at Arthur and reached out to him and put her arms around his neck. "Hi, brother!"  
  
Arthur laughed and hugged her back. "Hi, sister! Want a biscuit? Molly made lots of these!"  
  
Betsy laughed, and Molly scolded Arthur laughingly, "You'll spoil her dinner."  
  
But her mother said, "Oh, Molly, it's Christmas. There are no spoiled dinners at Christmas."  
  
Molly grinned and gave her youngest sister a biscuit.  
  
It was the merriest Christmas the Dixon family had seen in many years. Cian Dixon played his fiddle, and Arthur and Molly played with the smaller Dixon girls. Molly's fears about the amount of food she had prepared were unfounded, and everyone ate and was well satisfied. After dinner, they opened their gifts, which were not extravagant, but they were chosen with love. "Ah, what would Christmas be without a Molly Dixon jumper," her father said, and then laughed. "I suppose we'll have to call them Molly Weasley jumpers from now on."  
  
Molly blushed a bit and leaned happily against Arthur.  
  
Later, Aiden Dixon, Molly's father began to tell stories. He was a grand storyteller, and in both better times and worse, his stories had entertained them through many a long winter's night. Molly asked for her childhood favorite, "Cap o' Rushes", and her sisters asked for other stories, and her mother asked for "The Battle of the Trees." Arthur rather liked that story himself, especially the line, "I have plundered the fern, through all secrets I spy, Old Math ap Mathonwy knew no more than I."  
  
Finally, when the last story had been told and the last song sung, the guests, a bit sleepy with merrymaking, began to make their ways home. Elisabeth Dixon took her daughter aside and told her, "Molly, that was the happiest celebration I've had in a very long time, and I thank you."  
  
"Oh, Mum." Molly's eyes were shining, and Arthur knew that meant a lot to her.  
  
"I knew this would be good for you. I think you were born to be married. Arthur has been good for you. Be happy."  
  
Molly held her mother close. Even after nearly six months of marriage, Arthur knew she was sometimes still torn between being at Dixon's Den to take care of her mother, and being here at her Burrow to take care of him. "I will, Mum. Travel safely."  
  
When all the guests were gone, Molly and Arthur collapsed on the sofa in front of the fireplace in the front room. "That was wonderful!" Arthur exclaimed happily. "Should we do it again next year?"  
  
"Next year, we will have a little one to look after, Arthur," she reminded him gently.  
  
"We'll have to do the visiting, then." Arthur kissed her cheek tenderly. A little one to look after, he thought. How wonderful. His hand drifted down to her belly, a little rounder now and very warm.  
  
Molly pulled her feet up on the sofa and leaned into Arthur. Sleepily, she nodded against him. "Happy Christmas, Arthur."  
  
"Happy Christmas, darling."  
  
A/N: Aiden and Cian Dixon are from Scotland, but Aiden's stories are from all over. Hey, when you have to entertain a family of five on long winter's nights, you take the stories where you can get them! 


	3. The Dark Times

Disclaimer: I love Arthur and Molly, but I didn't invent them. That happy circumstance goes to J.K. Rowling.  
  
Thank you to my lovely readers, who have patiently been waiting for another one of these.  
  
Bits and Pieces  
Bit Three: The Dark Times  
  
Bill, two years old, toddled over to where his mother was resting in her rocking chair, knitting. "C'n I talk to baby?" he asked, looking up at her with his big blue eyes, so like his father's. Molly smiled and helped her son put his ear to her belly. Then, Bill put his mouth right against her stomach and said, "Hi, baby.when you coming out?"  
  
"He'll be out very soon, Bill-my-boy, and then he'll be very little and helpless, but you'll be a big brother then, and you'll have to help him out with all the things he will need to learn." She stroked his slightly messy hair tenderly. He can be a handful, but he is a dear, she thought in contentment.  
  
"Molly? Molly, are you in?" a voice called from outside.  
  
"Mum! Come on in!" Molly got up from her chair with an effort, and met her mother Elisabeth as she came in the door. "I wish you had told me you were coming!"  
  
"Well, I couldn't very well have done that! It would have spoilt the surprise." Elisabeth Dixon was a small woman with blonde hair that was only now going silver. She had her ever-present knitting with her and her brown eyes were merry. "Where's my bonnie Billy-boy?"  
  
Bill laughed, "Gran'Beth! Gran'Beth!" He ran into Elisabeth's arms.  
  
"Easy, Bill! Take it easy on your grandmother!" Molly chastised, but Elisabeth just laughed it off.  
  
"Oh, he's just a boy, Molly! He's not going to kill me or anything!" She sat down at the kitchen table and Bill climbed up into her lap.  
  
"Tea, Mum?"  
  
"Yes, dear, thank you. Now, Bill my boy, what have you been up to?" Bill loved to talk, and he had a rather extensive vocabulary.  
  
"I've been digging for buried treasure."  
  
"Buried treasure? Where?"  
  
"In the backyard sandbox."  
  
At the stove, Molly smiled and shook her head affectionately.  
  
"And what have you found?"  
  
"I found a dead bird."  
  
"William Bertram Weasley!" Molly cried in shock.  
  
"Well, I did, Mum." Bill objected. He turned back to his Gran, who was listening with rapt attention, and dropped his voice to a very loud whisper. "It didn' have a head, so I think it was there a long time."  
  
Elisabeth was trying to keep the smile off of her face as she asked gravely, "And what else did you find?"  
  
Molly covered her face. Oh, good heavens, between my mother and Arthur.  
  
"Umm.I found some nuts the squirrels were hiding, an' I put them back where I found 'em, 'cause I didn' want them to starve.I found two Knuts." Bill kept listing small objects, like buttons and old shoelaces.  
  
"So are you going to hunt treasure when you grow up?" Elisabeth asked.  
  
Bill thought for a minute, his tiny brow furrowing in concentration. "Maybe.unless Dad wants me to help catch that bad wizard."  
  
Molly sucked in her breath. "William," she asked gently, "wherever did you hear about the bad wizard?"  
  
Bill turned red at the ears. "Ummm.I heard you an' Dad talking about a very bad wizard."  
  
Molly made herself smile at her oldest son. "Well, Bill," she said, ruffling his hair affectionately, "you just don't worry about the bad wizard. By the time you get big, I'm sure he'll be gone for good." She tried to sound as confident as she could.  
  
"Okay. Can I go back outside now?"  
  
"I think it's best if you go to your room if you want to play, but quietly, all right, so your Gran and I can talk."  
  
When Bill had gone up to his room, Molly pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "We've tried to keep all this from him.but he's just too smart. He picks up everything."  
  
"He doesn't seem worried about it," Elisabeth reassured her gently. "But it would be odd if he didn't notice anything. He is an extraordinary child, and he was bound to notice that something was wrong."  
  
"What do I do, Mum? I just want everything to be safe for him. It isn't.it isn't fair. No child should have to live in a world like this, with all this fear."  
  
"Oh, but it's a lovely world as well, Molly dear, and if I can say that, it must be true."  
  
Molly smiled at her mother. "You might not have always been strong.but you did your best to make things nice for us girls."  
  
"You know my life, Molly, I've told you just about everything, and you know a few things no daughter should know about her mother. We've been friends more than mother and daughter. But even through all the hard times, I've never regretted having our children. And it is our family that has made things all the better."  
  
"At home I was never afraid.you made it lovely for us, even when you couldn't get out of bed." Molly leaned her head on her hand. "I guess.I guess that's what I have to do now. Make a safe world here at the Burrow."  
  
"That's exactly right, dear." Elisabeth put a hand over Molly's.  
  
Arthur came in the door. "Mum Dixon! How lovely to see you! 'Lo, Molly," he said, bending down to kiss her cheek. He sat down next to her and took her hand. "Where's our boy?"  
  
"He's upstairs playing. Ah.he heard us talking.about You-Know-Who."  
  
He smiled. "Well.I'm not that surprised. He's a smart boy."  
  
"I suppose we will have to speak to him about it.make sure he isn't getting any.ideas."  
  
"Anything Bill could dream up.I don't think it would be as bad as what he really is." Arthur's voice sounded strained, and Molly made a note to ask him about it later. "I have to go in again tonight. I just came by to eat." He looked ruefully at Molly. "All the departments are on alert. Things are getting.strange."  
  
"Strange?"  
  
"Groups of wizards going missing. Whole families disappearing. Elisabeth, I have to ask, how are the wards on your house?"  
  
She paled a bit. "Still strong. Shall I tell Aiden to add a few more?"  
  
Arthur nodded. "I would feel better if you would. I can give him a few to add if he needs any help."  
  
"I'll get some dinner for you, Arthur." Molly got up, putting the meat pie she had prepared into the oven. She heard Bill coming downstairs and crying happily, "Dad, you're home!"  
  
Bill hugged his father enthusiastically. "Can you take me up on your broom tonight?"  
  
Arthur sighed. "I'm sorry, Bill my boy, but I have to go back in to work tonight. I promise, the first afternoon that I can, we will go on a good long ride."  
  
"Okay." Bill climbed up into Arthur's lap. "I was telling Gran all the things I've found in the sandbox."  
  
At the stove, Molly sighed.  
  
Elisabeth went home before dinner, to warn her husband about the wards on the house and to find out about other methods of protection. Molly also strongly suspected she wanted to curl up in her husband's arms and be comforted. I can't blame her there, Molly thought, wishing earnestly that Arthur didn't have to go in, so she could do the same.  
  
"Bill, will you go upstairs and play? I want to talk to your mum."  
  
"All right."  
  
When Bill had gone upstairs, Arthur turned to Molly and embraced her. "There's nothing I want more than to stay right here tonight. I hate the thought of you and Bill being here alone."  
  
"We will be fine," she said, much more bravely than she felt. "Bill will go to bed, and I will have a chance to catch up on all that mending. I won't be idle."  
  
Arthur snorted. "Never, in all the years I've known you, have you ever been idle."  
  
"Just you bring yourself back home safely, Arthur Weasley. And I promise, I'll make some idle time for you." Molly blushed. Sometimes, I can't believe the things that come out of my mouth.  
  
"Well, with a promise like that, how can I disobey?" He kissed her tenderly. "I will be back by three o'clock. They can't keep me any longer than that, and if I'm still in good shape-not too tired, that is-I'll Apparate right home."  
  
"All right, Arthur. Be careful."  
  
After Arthur had said good bye to Bill and Disapparated, Molly set about getting the toddler washed and dressed for bed. He had been rubbing his eyes all through dinner, and he fell asleep in Molly's arms as she was reading him Where the Wild Things Are. She put him carefully in his bed and tucked him in, smoothing the slightly damp hair from his forehead and kissing him. She shut his door just to and went downstairs.  
  
As she settled in her rocking chair to do her mending, the baby gave her a tremendous kick. "Now you decide to start the kicking! Do me a favor, and start doing that when your father is here, so he can feel you as well. You know that's his favorite part of all this. It certainly isn't my sunny personality during the first three months." Molly sighed, and took up a set of Arthur's work robes. She set about working the tiny stitches around a small hole. The only sound in the house was the ticking of her Chore Clock, which happily rested at 'Mending and Thinking.'  
  
Molly did not think of her husband all evening, and didn't think of him so much that she found herself checking the Family Clock every five minutes, to make sure his hand was still on 'Work' and nowhere near 'Mortal Peril'.  
  
Her mending was done by one in the morning, and Molly put on a pot for tea. By all means, she should be in bed asleep, but there was no way she was going to be able to sleep tonight. She opened one of her novels (C is for Cauldron) and forced herself to get into it.  
  
Two hours later, she looked at the clock. It was five to three in the morning, and in five minutes, six at the most, Arthur should be home. Should be, Molly thought. Oh come on, Molly, it's not the first time he's worked late.  
  
But it's the first time all of this has become real. Talking about extra wards on the house, and warning my mother.telling me exactly when he'll be home from work, so I'll know when I have to start worrying. Molly placed her hand on her belly.the baby was coming so soon, and she wondered for the first time if Arthur was still going to be here to see it.  
  
Molly shook herself. Of course he's going to be here. He's coming home in a few moments, and then you'll feel silly for worrying so.Her eyes flicked to the clock, where Arthur's hand was moving toward "Traveling." She expelled a tremendous sigh of relief. He would be home soon.  
  
Sure enough, Arthur Apparated in the kitchen moments later, looking very tired. Molly smiled uncontrollably and hugged him tight. "I'm so glad you're home," she sighed.  
  
He leaned his cheek on her hair. "I'm glad, too."  
  
The baby chose this moment to begin kicking, apparently a bit squashed in the hug. "Oh," Arthur said, his face brightening. "He is in there, isn't he?"  
  
Molly laughed. "He must have listened to my scolding earlier.I told him to do that while you were home."  
  
Arthur's hand drifted to her belly. "He's really kicking up a storm. Is he usually this active at this time?"  
  
"He's usually asleep. As you should be, darling."  
  
"I don't know if I'll be able to, dear. It's been such a long night. But I'll come to bed with you anyway. I don't have to be back at work until one in the afternoon tomorrow. And you look like you're about ready to drop where you stand."  
  
"There was no way I was closing my eyes until you were back home."  
  
"Molly, you need your rest," he said quietly. "And you know that little one you've got inside you won't give us a moment's rest for at least three months once he's born."  
  
She sighed. "I'll try to get more rest. But I'll be so glad when you can be home nights."  
  
"So will I, Molly. So will I."  
  
Together, they went upstairs, and looked in on their son, whose face was flushed with sleep. Arthur kissed him gently on the forehead and then followed Molly to their room. Both of them were so exhausted that their "idle time" consisted of a kiss before they slept in each other's arms.  
  
A/N: And yes, Elanor, the Wizard version of Where the Wild Things Are does have the monsters moving as they do the Wild Rumpus! ;-) 


	4. The Lost Boy

Disclaimer: I don't own this-it all belongs to JKR.  
  
A/N: This is the last chapter before this fic goes into hiatus, as the next chapter of this has some spoilers for my other work in progress, School Reminiscences.  
  
THANX go as usual, to my beta, Elanor Gamgee, and the ladies of the SQ Workshop 2. You all ROX so much!  
  
Bits and Pieces  
Bit Four: The Lost Boy  
  
Arthur Apparated into the kitchen of the Burrow and checked to see that the wards were still in place. They were still tight as a drum, and he relaxed. "Molly?" he called tentatively. He wondered if she had been all right, as he had gone into work that day and Molly's mother had finally gone home. Molly had been alone, with only Bill and Charlie to keep her company.  
  
"Hi, Dad," Bill said, coming to meet him. Bill was six, and his little face was sober as he led his four-year-old brother Charlie into the kitchen. Arthur smiled and picked up his chubby little son. "Hello, Charlie," he said, kissing his son on the cheek. Charlie put his arms tight around Arthur's neck. "Where's your mother, Billy-boy?"  
  
"I think.I think she's in the nursery." Bill looked worried and tense.  
  
Arthur sighed. "How long has she been up there?"  
  
"Not very long, Dad. She just went up."  
  
Charlie's arms tightened even more around his father's neck.  
  
"Charlie, what is it? Are you worried about your mummy?"  
  
Arthur felt his youngest son nod against his neck. "Mummy cry, Daddy."  
  
That's what I reckoned, Arthur thought. He smiled gently at his worried sons, putting Charlie on the floor and ruffling his hair. "Your mother is going to be all right, and I know you boys are worried. She just needs some time, that's all. Why don't you boys go in the other room and play for a while longer? I'll look in on your mum."  
  
Bill looked up at Arthur and nodded. He took Charlie's hand. "C'mon, Charlie. I'll read Where the Wild Things Are to you."  
  
Charlie looked up at his brother as they went into the living room. "Will Daddy be able to make Mummy all better?"  
  
"I think so, Charlie. Come on."  
  
His boys went into the living room and Arthur passed a hand over his face wearily. His boys were confused; they didn't really understand why their mother was so sad. They had only known that they had been going to have a new sibling, and now they knew they weren't. They didn't understand why their Mummy was so distracted, they didn't understand why Daddy didn't seem to laugh as much as he used to.  
  
Arthur looked up the staircase and sighed heavily. It had been three months, and Molly really was having a very hard time. I wish I knew how to fix this, he thought, as he slowly ascended the stairs. Arthur had known Molly for fifteen years, but never had there been such a thing between them that could not be talked about. Not like this. It was as if no matter how closely he held her, there was always a wall there, a wall neither one of them mentioned, some insurmountable thing with no substance.  
  
The nursery door was open, and Arthur peered into the darkened room. It was cold in the nursery; they hadn't lit the hearth for many weeks. When his eyes got used to the light, he saw that Molly was sitting in the rocking chair, looking at the half-painted walls. She had pulled one foot up onto the seat and was rocking listlessly. Her face was pale and a bit drawn, and her eyes were dry, although traces of tears were still on her cheeks. She was so lost in thought that she didn't even hear him come in.  
  
"Hello, Molly," Arthur said softly.  
  
She blinked in mild surprise and said faintly, "Oh.you're home." She managed a smile for him that quickly disappeared. "I'm not sure why I ended up in here.I just do, sometimes."  
  
Arthur smiled gently back. "I know. It's all right--so do I. I think I lost myself in here for nearly half an hour this morning before you woke up."  
  
"Remember when we decided on the color for this room?" she asked vaguely.  
  
"Decided? More like fought over it, didn't we?" Arthur stood over by her and placed a hand on her hair, letting the curls run through his fingers.  
  
She let out a short laugh. "I'll never forget that fight.we had big splotches of paint all over the walls.we were laughing so hard." She rubbed her hand over her eyes. "Why did this have to happen, Arthur? Why?" The words burst from her mouth as if forced.  
  
Arthur sighed and ran his hand through his hair, just now noticing it was beginning to thin out. "I don't know, Molly."  
  
*********************************************  
  
It was nearly three months now since Arthur had received a frantic call from Molly's mother. He'd been working in his new job in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, and happily putting away plugs in the proper file boxes, when an emergency Floo call came through for him. "Arthur?" Elisabeth Dixon's face was pale and worried.  
  
"Mum Dixon, what is it?" he asked, coming over to the fireplace and kneeling down in front of it.  
  
"Molly's collapsed. She was over at the Den with the children, when she just suddenly doubled over. We're at St. Mungo's now.please hurry!"  
  
Arthur didn't have to be told twice, and he barely managed to stammer out an explanation to his supervisors before they pushed him out of the door.  
  
It was Molly's father Aiden, his face grey and stricken, who met him in the Visitor's room and told him in a low voice that the baby had died, and that Molly was still unconscious. Arthur stared at him, uncomprehending, for a few moments, then said, "I need to see Molly, now. I have to see her."  
  
Aiden nodded firmly and went to find a mediwizard. Arthur sat, staring off into space, waiting for his heart to start beating again. He felt as if someone had hit him in the stomach. Every minute seemed to last an hour. Thinking of the baby was too painful, all he could think of was Molly, and how much he needed her to be all right. Fifteen years is not enough time.I plan on at least fifty more, and she has to be all right, she has to!  
  
"Mr. Weasley? I'm Healer Barton-I've been taking care of your wife."  
  
Arthur lifted his head to see a mediwizard looking gravely down at him. "Yes. Is.is she going to be all right?"  
  
"We've done what we can do for her.she's unconscious but stable. You can come into her room for a little while, but she's going to need rest."  
  
"I just want to see her." The mediwizard nodded and led him down the corridor, and pushed open a door. The room was large and white, with curtains separating the beds from each other. Healer Barton brought him within one of the curtained enclosures.  
  
Molly looks so small and fragile, he thought with a shock. Molly had always been his strength. Her face was so pale, and it seemed that the only color in the room was her head of vibrant red hair. For a few moments, he couldn't move, and then he thought, Come on, Weasley.are you a man or not? and he went over to her and held her hand, stroking it gently. He leaned over to her ear and pushed the hair away from it. "Molly, it's all right. You are going to be fine. I came as soon as I could. You have to wake up so I can take care of you. I know I'm hopeless, but I'll try, I promise. I love you so much. I want you to get well so you can come home and I can see your pretty face every day."  
  
Molly made a soft sound, and then her lips moved. "Flatterer," she whispered.  
  
Arthur could not help smiling and he batted the tears from his eyes impatiently. Gently, he hugged her close. "Thank goodness.Oh, thank goodness you're awake."  
  
"Arthur.Arthur.is the baby all right?" She looked up at him with fear in her eyes.  
  
With a shock, he realized she didn't know-she'd been unconscious the whole time. He pushed her hair back from her face. He felt as if someone had taken a knife and cut out his heart. "Oh, Molly.I'm sorry." Arthur made himself look into her eyes as they filled up with tears. "Darling." Molly just buried her face in his robes and wept. She kept crying until they gave her a potion to help her sleep.  
  
Even when she came home, she slept quite a bit, and Molly's mother came to help take care of her. Arthur was grateful, for he was at a loss as to what to do for her. As much as he wanted to, he had never really taken care of anyone before, and Molly's mother understood this. She told him what to do and how, and let him do most of the caretaking. Molly had lost a lot of weight and she was very weak, but her natural determination and willpower got her out of bed, and soon, she was doing most of her old tasks.though Arthur would much have preferred her getting more rest.  
  
"I have to do something, Arthur.I'll go mad otherwise, thinking."  
  
She hadn't needed to say any more. Arthur had been going a bit mad himself since he had been staying home from work. "Just promise me you won't overdo it. And let me help you."  
  
Molly had nodded and gone about her work quietly, a bit too quietly for Arthur's peace of mind. Arthur went back to work and found solace in the monotony of his job, though sometimes his inattention got the better of him. And occasionally, as often as five times a week, he would find her, as he had today, sitting in the empty nursery, not crying, just sitting.  
  
***************************************************  
  
Now, Arthur dropped to the floor beside her chair and took a deep breath, trying to find the words to say what he felt, trying to express the feelings he hadn't been able to talk about. "I miss him too.the idea of him." It was nearly three months after it had happened and he had not spoken of it to her. He had been afraid it would make her feel worse. He didn't exactly know why he was talking about it now, and he wasn't sure it was the right thing to say.  
  
"I still feel him.at night, when I'm trying to sleep.I know it isn't real, but.it just hurts." Her voice trailed off, and he realized she hadn't really talked about it either. He reached for her hand and held it, looking out of the window at the sky, which was still light. The sun was going down, illuminating the bare trees with the new buds just coming out on them.  
  
She was looking too, and commented faintly, "Spring is coming." She sighed. "I should get dinner going."  
  
"I'll help you," he replied, getting up and offering her his hand.  
  
Molly smiled as she took his hand, but instead of leaving the room immediately, he pulled her close to him in a fierce hug. "I love you, Molly."  
  
She held him tight and rested her head on his chest. "I love you too, Arthur."  
  
"Dinner at Mum's on Sunday?" They hadn't been to his parents' house since about a week before the miscarriage had happened.  
  
"I.I think I'd like that." He could feel her smile into his neck.  
  
When she lifted her head, he kissed her quietly and she led the way out of the nursery. Arthur shut the door. 


End file.
